Daylight Assassination
Eric Robic, a 51-year-old man with a long criminal record, was shot and killed this Thursday morning in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. The execution-style attack occurred at approximately 9:31 a.m. on Boulevard Victor Hugo. According to initial reports, two helmeted assailants on a Yamaha TMAX scooter carried out the shooting, fleeing the scene within seconds.
A witness alerted emergency services, stating they had just witnessed an execution. Upon arrival, police found a woman screaming as firefighters administered aid to the victim, who was wearing a grey and red motorcycle helmet. Despite efforts to stabilize him at the scene—located near the headquarters of France’s domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, in Levallois-Perret—Robic was pronounced dead at 10:10 a.m.
A Life of Crime and International Notoriety
While the victim’s identity was initially unclear, investigators confirmed it was Eric Robic within half an hour. Robic was known to police for a litany of offenses, including:
- Outrage and rebellion
- Fraud and swindling
- Criminal conspiracy
- Intentional and unintentional violence
- Involuntary homicide
He gained international notoriety in 2011 for the hit-and-run death of a young Israeli woman, Lee Zeitouni, in Tel Aviv. The case sparked a major diplomatic controversy between France and Israel. In 2013, a Paris court sentenced Robic to five years in prison for his role in the incident. His passenger at the time, Claude Khayat, received a 15-month sentence.
Investigation Launched Amid Multiple Motives
The Nanterre public prosecutor’s office confirmed the killing and has opened an investigation. Detectives from the judicial police are now tasked with uncovering the motive behind the assassination.
Key questions include whether the murder is linked to the old Tel Aviv case or to Robic’s more recent, shadowy activities. Both he and Khayat had been involved in other high-profile fraud schemes following the 2011 tragedy.
Investigators have secured the crime scene and will pursue several lines of inquiry:
- Collecting forensic evidence and traces
- Analyzing CCTV footage from the area
- Examining telecommunications data
- Interviewing the victim’s associates and meticulously reviewing his recent life
As the investigation begins, the brazen nature of the killing in a busy Paris suburb marks a violent end for a figure whose life was mired in crime and controversy.
